DEMOCRATIC 


FRAUDS. 


HOW  THE  DEMOCRATS 

CARRIED  PENNSYLVANIA  IN  1867. 

At  the  Pennsylvania  election  of  October  7,  1867,  the  official  returns 
on  the  State  ticket  gave  to  the  Democratic  party  a  majority  of  922  votes. 
As  Pennsylvania  is  everywhere  recognized  to  be  the  political  battle¬ 
ground  of  the  Union,  and  as  the  State  had  for  some  years  given 
moderate  Republican  majorities,  this  result  was  regarded  as  of  great 
significance.  Throughout  the  United  States  the  exultant  Democracy 
were  stimulated  to  fresh  exertions,  while  loyal  men  were  correspondingly 
discouraged.  We  heard  from  every  quarter  that  the  long  expected 
reaction  had  at  last  set  in — that  reaction  so  often  prophesied  which 
was  to  restore  the  sweets  of  official  plunder  to  those  whose  long  career 
of  power  had  culminated  in  a  desperate  civil  war,  and  in  the  narrow 
escape  from  destruction  of  all  our  institutions. 

Where  success  was  of  importance  so  incalculable  it  was  worth  every 
effort  to  obtain.  That  the  result  should  be  the  expression  of  the  will 
of  the  majority  was  a  matter  of  absolute  indifference.  In  1861,  the 
Democracy  of  the  South  had  refused  to  submit  to  the  rule  of  the  majo¬ 
rity,  and  the  Democracy  of  the  North  had  justified  them  in  their  resist¬ 
ance.  The  Pennsylvania  wing  of  the  party  lacks  the  hardihood  to 
follow  the  example,  and  seeks  to  attain  the  same  end  by  knavery  rather 
than  by  force. 

The  plotters  of  election  frauds  are  the  meanest  of  the  human  species. 
Their  tools  may  possibly  be  detected  and  punished,  but  the  instigators 
- — those  who  plan  the  cheating  and  reap  all  the  fruits  of  success — remain 
safely  shrouded  in  mystery  impenetrable  to  legal  process.  If  they  fail 
they  lose  nothing,  for  of  honesty  and  character  they  have  none  to  lose ; 
the  chances  of  success  are  all  on  their  side,  for  in  case  of  failure  their 
wretched  instruments  alone  bear  the  brunt.  Cunningly  organized 


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schemes  of  election  frauds,  moreover,  when  carried  out  to  a  sufficient 
extent,  are  well  nigh  sure  to  succeed,  for  the  task  of  a  contestant  is 
difficult  almost  to  impossibility.  To  grope  blindly  over  lists  of  taxables 
and  tally-papers,  and  canvass  whole  districts  to  produce  legal  proof  for 
rejecting  each  fraudulent  vote,  is  tolerably  sure,  even  when  it  can  be 
done  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  to  consume  nearly  the 
whole  term  of  office  for  which  the  election  has  been  held ;  while  the  vote 
by  ballot  renders  it  almost  impossible  to  prove  how  each  individual 
vote  has  been  cast  by  electors  who  can  be  shown  to  have  been  illegal. 
Thus  the  lawr  can  be  wrenched  to  assist  the  conspirators  who,  assured 
of  personal  impunity,  combine  to  defraud  the  people  of  their  highest 
political  right — the  right  of  the  majority  to  rule. 

The  Democratic  Plan  of  Campaign. 

Fully  cognizant  of  these  truths  the  Democracy  entered  upon  the 
campaign  of  1867,  resolved  to  win;  and  when  all  the  advantages  of 
long  experience  in  audacious  fraud  are  considered,  the  only  wonder  is 
that  their  apparent  majority  was  kept  within  the  limits  of  a  thousand. 
Their  purpose  and  design  were  foreshadowed  in  a  secret  circular  issued 
to  the  faithful,  September  18,  1867,  by  the  Democratic  State  Central 
Committee.  The  chairmen  of  the  county  committees  were  warned  that 
the  struggle  “is  comparatively  noiseless,  but  it  should  be  made  full  of 
activity.”  This  “activity”  seems  to  have  meant  the  liberal  expendi¬ 
ture  of  money.  Thus,  with  regard  to  their  sub-agents,  they  were  told : 
“Pay  them  for  their  time  in  warning  the  dilatory  and  for 

ELECTION  DAY,  AND  PROVIDE  THE  MEANS  TO  HAUL  THE  SLOW  MEN  TO 

the  polls.  It  is  better  to  spend  money  in  this  way  than  by  meet¬ 
ings.  ...  In  very  slow  districts  I  would  suggest  a  special  contract' 
wdth  active  men,  thus:  in  1865,  the  district  polled  100  Democratic 
votes;  in  1866,  120  Democratic  votes;  now,  for  every  Democratic  vote 
over  110  polled,  we  will  pay  you  a  fixed  sum  the  day  after  the 
election.”  .  ...  “See  that  your  agents  have  all  Democrats  assessed, 
naturalized,  and  their  taxes  paid.” 

The  fraud  and  corruption  so  cunningly  suggested  and  veiled  in  these 
carefully  worded  sentences  were  revealed  more  broadly  than  their  authors 
expected  in  the  contested  election  case  of  Robison  against  Shugart. 
Let  us  then  see  how  the  “active  men”  under  these  directions  “hauled 
their  slow  voters  to  the  polls  ;”  how  they  obeyed  the  mandate  to  “  natu¬ 
ralize  their  voters,”  and  how  they  sought  to  earn  the  bribe  offered  them 
for  an  increased  Democratic  majority  in  every  election  district;  the 
whiskey  ring,  we  may  presume,  supplying  the  enormous  capital  requisite 
for  the  business  of  buying,  selling,  and  manufacturing  voters  on  so  large 
a  scale. 


